The Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 tires are the best All season Ultra high performance tire on the market...i was going to get the pilot sport summer tire but living in the midwest thats just not practical unless you have summer and winter tires. i dont realky drive the mini in the snow but i do when its cold and wet...the tires are great they obsorb the impact of pot holes 10 times better then my last set of cheap nexus tires.also handling confidence is through the roof these tires grip the road like no other tires ive ever experienced. highly recommend if your in the market for an amazing all sesaon tire.

 

Replaced the original SS+ struts and shocks with Koni Sports and swapped in an
H-Sport 19mm rear bar and Detroit Tuned rear end links over the last couple weeks.
I did the back myself and had my local MINI-knowlegeable shop do the fronts.
Also replaced the rubber bits (spring pads, bump stops, front strut mounts, rear
strut mount inserts) and the bolts to the top and bottom of the rear shocks and
the front pinch bolt.

The ride is significantly firmer while actually being slightly less harsh. Settings are
about 1 turn from full soft (although I set the fronts to slightly different amounts
to even out the rebound resistance on both sides).

Summer tires go on tomorrow pending the 10 day weather forecast. Snow this am
and 22F expected tomorrow am is delaying that until tomorrow.

Also did a partial steering fluid swap (suck out from above and replace) since I've never
done one and the fluid is getting a little dark. I'll do it a couple more times until it looks
a nice clear green (Pentosin CHF 11S).

 

I too want gold on my Chili Red.

 

Nice. I opted for Pilot Super Sport summer tires on my 06' MCS. About a 100 + mile round trip today with wet, light snow and not a single problem. Car rode flawlessly and was comfortable. I wouldn't typically take it out it those conditions but the weather by me wasn't what we encountered during our trip. Either way, great tires. Can't wait for warmer weather.

Stay safe out there.

mvision7m 06' MCS 6spd

 

Well with all of this praise about these tires not only here but on other forums I guess I found my next tires. Do you know if there tires are ok on aftermarket 17s? Or just stock wheels?

 

eek, 22F? It hit 98F here today.

Very interested in doing this as well. Have my eye set on Koni Sports with the TSW springs, new hardware/mounts and a larger rear swaybar.

I was thinking 1/4-1/2 turn up front and 1/2-3/4 turn in back.

 

My Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 are on Sparco assetto garas 17x7s and it rides 100 times better then my stock rims and cheap tires i had the grip on these tires is absolutely insane...you can watch a ckip on youtube that tire rack did they tested them and they really are the best Ultra High performance all season tire...im seruous look no further if you need tires.

 

FINALLY finished installing my JCW kit. Long story short, the JCW Aerokit II will fit a 2013 Cooper but it is very difficult to get it aligned well and none of the bottom mounting holes line up, so improvising is necessary. The brake air duct kit will also fit, however the ducts need to be cut down a bit because the lower grill section of the Cooper kit is at least an inch deeper than the S version for whatever stupid reason MINI decided it was a good idea to have 2 different versions of the front bumper. The upper grill contours are also different than the Cooper S, and strangely it matches the profile of the LCI Cooper. This turned out to be OK, since I wanted the chrome grill surrounds instead of black, and I already modified an S grill to fit. Interestingly enough, the black grill that comes with the Cooper kit will accept the lower chrome surround of the LCI Cooper, unlike the most current version, but you would need to glue it in, since the locking tabs don't engage well. Another possible issue with the grill that comes with the Aero II kit is that the angle of the top mounting tab doesn't fit flat up against the LCI's top radiator mount and 2 of the holes don't line up, so fitment is iffy all around. I will try and put all of this into a more detailed account of the whole fitment in a new thread, since it seems like this has been a long standing unanswered question.

General comments:

-Painted arches are a PAIN to install. The way they have to click into tabs on the bumpers makes it extremely difficult to align them properly while avoiding scratches on all of the painted surfaces.

-The front splitters (width extensions) are also incredibly hard to click into place, since the paint on the tabs makes them thicker and the paint on the holes makes them narrower! Having a folding panel stand would have been very handy for this part since this is also a process that can easily lead to scratched paint.

-I left my wheels on and chose not to jack the car up either. This probably added a whole extra day of work for me, since taking the inner wheel liners out would have made so many tasks easier. Putting all the expansion clips back in would have been easier as well, without wheels constantly in the way. Lesson learned.

-I HATE the white conical push clips. Easy to install, infuriating to remove.

 

Shouldn't have any issues on aftermarket wheels. As long as the sizing is correct you're good to go as far as I know.

mvision7m 06' MCS 6spd

 

Tires fit on OEM wheels fine. There is no differentiation just because a wheel is OEM or aftermarket. Exact tire sizes are a perfect fit. You can also get get wider or narrower depending on what you feel like. For example: 175/65/15 or 185/60/15 or 195/60/15 or 205/55/15 are all basically the same fit they just keep getting wider from 175 to 205.

 

Looks really good. Your car looked good even before the JCW kit was installed. The BRG is also a head turner.

 

The TSW springs are a good choice as they lower less than almost any other
non-stock springs and suspension travel is really at a premium on MINIs.
I stayed with stock springs.

I found that the calibration of the rebound setting varies quite a bit from one
shock to the next. I timed how long a compressed one takes to push itself
fully up and also how long while I was pulling it up as hard as I could so that I
could get the rebound even. I came up with 1 full turn on both rears and
1.25 turns on the left front and 3/4 turn on the right front to get them all
feeling about even. In addition, there was NO increase in rebound firmness
going from full soft to about 1/2 to 3/4 turn depending on the shock. Your
results may vary.

 

Thanks! I appreciate the help in explaining this all. I found my next tires!

 

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Oh wow... Ok, appreciated the heads up! I just assumed each corner would be the same. Apparently not... Thanks!

 

I don't think I have ever seen a Mini with yellow headlights but I know we all often have other cars. Maybe you have a Mercedes Benz for your second car and just about all of those have cataracts. Anyway I stumbled on a really fast easy way to restore headlights. I got some of La's Totally Awesome general purpose cleaner from the .99 cent store. You spray it on the headlight and instantly the yellow oxidation runs right off. It looks like your car is crying away the yellow. Right away (maybe 10 seconds your headlights are clear. rinse with water asap to stop the reaction. They may be a little cloudy after the water dries. Use a polish and clean soft towel and buff by hand. It is highly effective and cuts the time for this project if you are used to only using a polish or different grits of paper etc. Something that would take you an hour of hard rubbing to do a good job is now literally cut to about 2 minutes and it comes out significantly better. I just stumbled on it last week by accident. My lights still look good this week (so far so good).

 

Do you have a picture with all of the lights on?

 

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Yes, I know....first official day of Spring came and went but it snowed here last night so as far as I'm concerned that day has not arrived yet....

Anyways, detailed the MINI today and opened this box from Phil at Detailers Domain and found a nice gift inside along with the rest of my order.....A really nice leather brush ! Definitely needed for the leather seats and the alcantara steering wheel.

Thanks Phil !

 

a few more pics:

 

Looks sharp! Very nice!

 

Looks awesome! I love that color. How did you get a blank license plate like that hahah

 

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Holy lights, thats a lot!

 

Why? And a mustache?